ENGAGE - May 2014 - Back to Basics: Boosting High School Graduation Rates

May 2014

Smart G iv ing to I m pr ove C om muni t i es

Back to Basics: Boosting High School Graduation Rates

The first in a series exploring issues from The Community Foundation’s Aspire Actions report.

table of contents Strong leadership means more diplomas for students .......................

City Year ‘near peers’ change lives of at-risk students .............................................................................

Arkansas Viewpoints: What is the most effective way to increase graduation rates in Arkansas? .................................

English Language Learners thrive with support from parents, teachers, schools ....................................

How to boost third grade reading levels, and why it matters..............

Why low graduation rates affect every Arkansan ............................

Heather Larkin

Summer camp aims to increase graduation rates Failure to complete high school is a significant contributor to poverty in Arkansas. Programs to increase graduation rates can work for all of us, creating a better workforce, boosting economic development and decreasing social welfare costs.

I’d like to tell you about one program that was a direct result of our Aspire Arkansas research. When the Hot Springs Area Community Foundation board of directors received the first Aspire Arkansas data in 2011, they learned that graduation rates were lower than expected in their community and decided to find a way to change that statistic.

The Community Foundation’s board members asked the Hot Springs High School administration what could be done to make a difference in graduation rates. Together, they decided the Community Foundation would sponsor a summer camp for students between their eighth and ninth grade years, a crucial time for keeping students in engaged in class work and school activities.

During the camp, incoming ninth graders who had been identified as at risk to drop out were paired with successful high school students. The teenage mentors and Hot Springs High teachers combined instruction and encouragement to

help their students succeed at subjects like math and English that had been difficult in the past.

Parents are essential to the process of increasing graduatione, Arkansas. rates. In the Hot Springs High program, parents committed to student attendance during the camp, and they were invited to attend a Graduation Assembly at the end of camp when the students signed a pledge to do their best to graduate.

The plan is to give at-risk students the experience of success, and it has worked very well. While the effort is long-term and measurable results are years away, the program is an example of a community’s raised awareness of the importance of high school graduation and the power of a local partnership in tackling a challenge.

Heather Larkin, J. D., CPA ARCF President and CEO

Cover Image: Students in Osceola School District’s Choices alternative education environment get a second chance to recover credits and work toward graduation.

Osceola High School students explore career options online in their College and Career Readiness class.

Strong leadership means more diplomas for students

by Julie Johnson Holt

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igh school junior Jaylon Tucker is looking forward to a career in medicine. “I intend to be a doctor,” the slim young man says in the hallway of Osceola High School, where he is taking classes in the medical professions career track. Chances are, he’ll make it.

But school leaders placed Jaylon in the school district’s alternative education program, called Choices, a program of individualized instruction that allowed Jaylon to catch up on his credits and then resume his studies at the high school this year.

A year or so ago, however, that outcome didn’t seem likely.

Jaylon had fallen so far behind in earning needed course credits that graduation on time — or at all — seemed a long shot at best.

Indeed, the Choices program has helped a number of Osceola students earn high school diplomas who would not have otherwise.

The Choices program, Jaylon said, “helped me.”

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A Culture of High Expectations

Choices is one of a slew of changes Superintendent Michael Cox instituted when he arrived at Osceola School District four years ago that helped graduation rates jump from 56.5 percent in 2010 to 81.7 percent in 2012.

“I knew (the graduation rate) looked awfully low when I got here,” Cox said one early spring day in the district’s board room. So he set about systemically creating a culture of high expectations and instilling the belief that every child deserved to succeed.

That same strong school leadership — leadership that is focused on meeting the needs of all students, particularly those facing the most challenges — appears to be the key ingredient in other schools where graduation rates have soared.

A High School Diploma That Means Something

“I went in with a plan to work with teachers and other administrators on how to aggressively address those concerns,” said Burton, who is now a deputy superintendent with the Little Rock School District.

Burton agrees. He made a point to know every student’s name and to be in the hallways between classes so he could converse with them. Cox, likewise, eats with students in the high school cafeteria practically every day.

Burton also created opportunities for students to use school computers while working with counselors to fill out college applications. Faculty and staff further worked with students to complete the FAFSA form for financial aid availability and to take the necessary steps to pursue college scholarships.

Cox and Burton say such activities as college fairs, career fairs, counseling with college and career coaches, and even courses that help with transitional years open students to the idea of a successful life after college that many didn’t know was possible.

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A Sense of Belonging is Critical

Osceola School District implemented two transition courses that Cox and other school leaders say have helped students stay on course to graduate.

One is a Keystone course that all students take the first semester of ninth grade. The experience eases the transition into high school, which is important, as the move from middle school to high school is the time when, traditionally, a high percentage of dropouts occur.

Keystone introduces students to the concept of high school credits, gets them thinking about career paths, and also encourages them to be involved in school extracurricular activities.

“When I came here, there was no yearbook, no clubs or organizations” for students to be involved with, Cox said. When he issued a plea to the faculty to help fill the void, he was pleased that 14 immediately showed up to serve as club sponsors. “We even have a guitar club,” he said, and the sense of belonging students now enjoy is critical to their overall attitude toward school.

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2011 graduation rates for Arkansas students by race/ethnicity Source: Arkansas Department of Education

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Though leadership in the school district has changed over the last year or so due to the state’s fiscal distress designation, which led to a state takeover of the district, counselor Janette Lampkins credits the stellar graduation record to school staff vigorously keeping up with each student’s attendance, consistently notifying parents of absences, employing an effective credit recovery program and hosting a vibrant, first-time college night at the high school.

“With our district being (made up of) a lot of free and reduced lunch kids, if you put your arms around them and show them that you are concerned about them, that makes a difference right there,” Lampkins said.

“My ultimate goal was to equip students with a high school diploma that meant something,” Burton said, whether they used it to get into college or a career.

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At Mineral Springs School District in western Arkansas, Superintendent Curtis Tucker says the district is on track to graduate 100 percent of its seniors this year — the second time they’ve done that in the last three years.

When Marvin Burton applied to be principal at Little Rock McClellan High School, he knew from studying the data that he wanted to improve graduation rates, increase the amount of scholarship money students receive and improve overall academic performance at the school.

One of his first tasks at McClellan was to meet with counselors weekly so together they could review each senior and junior student’s transcripts to make sure each was on track to graduate. Those who weren’t were quickly enrolled in credit recovery classes and provided other supports as well.

Students and faculty at Osceola High School

100% Graduation Rates Within Reach

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Osceola’s College and Career Readiness course for 12th graders similarly helps students with the transition into college or the work force.

Involving the Community

Burton found that involving his southwest Little Rock community added greatly to the success of keeping students on track to graduate.

He reached out to faith-based groups, community centers and neighborhood associations in the areas. “I provided them with information about what we were doing in the schools” and let them know how they could help.

Burton said the community organizations responded by disseminating information about school events, participating in sprucingup efforts for the school building and grounds and tutoring students after school. Local businesses would even print timeand-date reminders about parents’ nights and other important school activities on the back of receipts.

The community’s efforts were instrumental. “We increased our parent participation for Lit, Math and other nights from 10 on average attending to over 200 attending per night,” Burton said.

While the efforts to improve graduation rates must involve everyone from student, to school staff to the larger community, significant change is difficult without committed leadership.

“If you want to change the culture, start with the adults. The kids will follow,” Cox said.

That approach pays big dividends, Burton agreed.

“Every single day we saw kids becoming excited about coming to school and the opportunities they had available,” Burton said of his students at McClellan, where the graduation rate rose from 48 percent in 2010 to 72.7 percent in 2012. “They’d know, ‘Yes, I can attend college. Yes, I can acquire this skill.”

about this story To find high schools where graduation rates are on the rise, ENGAGE obtained the three most recent years’ graduation rate data from the Arkansas Department of Education. We then contacted a few of the schools where significant increases had occurred.

What we found were determined, energetic leaders who wanted to improve the academic performance and future outcomes for all their students. When you do that, of course, graduation rates improve as well.

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City Year ‘near peers’ change lives of at-risk students

“What is the most effective way to increase graduation rates in Arkansas?”

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By Jason Hamilton Executive Director, Arkansas Commitment

he solution to this issue, which affects every state across the country, is complex. Three important words to remember and embody are engagement, resources and support.

Carlos Sheppard helps student Alexis Oliver with a math assignment.

Alexis is in the ninth grade at Mabelvale High School. Early in the year, with low grades and high absenteeism, he had all the signs of a student at risk for becoming a high school dropout.

Enter City Year Little Rock/North Little Rock, a service organization wholly focused on fighting the national dropout rate.

City Year is the only national organization placing full-time, trained young adults in schools to provide individual attention to struggling students. City Year corps members or “near peers,” — those young enough to relate to students’ issues but mature enough to offer solid advice — mentor and tutor students at risk of dropping out.

Chosen through a rigorous selection process, corps members give a year of their lives to help students succeed. Each corps member is assigned 8-15 students with whom they meet with individually or in small group settings. Corps members travel from class to class with their “focus list” students throughout the day (including lunch and before/after school programs), providing social emotional learning (SEL) and academic coaching. Working with school partners, City Year uses data to regularly monitor the attendance, SEL, and academic progress of each student. Student

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The Little Rock School District began partnering with City Year in 2004 and relies on cooperation with school leaders, documenting goals and service outcomes, evaluation, reflection and course correction over the school year.

I challenge community leaders to be engaged with students, teachers and schools in their areas. Visit a school to witness the culture, interactions and needs of the students. Interact with teachers and administrators to find days in which you can talk to a class about the importance of education and its impact on your life and career. Many schools organize “Career Days” that provide a series of speakers or panelists, but they often need volunteers. Sometimes “seeing is believing”: young students are impressionable and need to see and hear from others who have come from their neighborhoods, communities and backgrounds who have become successful in life.

Carlos, a City Year member at Mabelvale High School, tutors Alexis in math and life skills. He wouldn’t hesitate to call Alexis’ dad when Alexis wasn’t in class or making his grades. But after a year of focusing on behavior, improved grades and being in class every day, Alexis will regularly ask Carlos: “Will you call my Dad and tell him that?”

Financial resources, or a lack thereof, can affect one’s education and life trajectory. Providing assistance for standardized testing registration, tutoring services, books and materials for projects and research, internships and cooperative learning partnerships, and even college tours can play a significant role a student’s desire to continue his/her education.

Now making B’s and C’s, Alexis plans to go to college when he graduates from high school. And Alexis’ plans after college? The same thing lots of 6’6” boys have: to play in the NBA. Only now, Alexis has what City Year members call “Plan B.”

Lastly, individuals in the community can play a supportive role in the lives of our students. The key is to invest your time. Remember, you don’t have to be formally involved through organizations such as Big Brothers Big Sisters or the Boys and Girls Club to mentor, listen to and support a young person. You can volunteer at church, assist your child’s school or participate at community events and have a significant impact. You may be the only source of confidence and support for a young person.

Carlos works with Kaki Blackburn, City Corps program manager and Executive Director Sarah Roberson (R) on individual plans for each student in the program.

interventions are tailored to support each student.

“If that doesn’t work out, I’m going to study business and open my own shoe store,” said Alexis. And with a size 16 shoe, that just might turn out to be a really good plan.

“It takes a village to raise a child,” and it should be the mission of every Arkansan to help better the lives of people around them. This will improve the overall condition of the state and its future. Reach back, and pay it forward.

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By Kenneth James, Ed.D. President, Arkansas Advanced Initiative for Math and Science

hile serving as the commissioner of education from 20042009, I had the privilege of working for two governors and several state legislators who emphasized and supported the overall importance of education reform from an economic and health related perspective. To that end, the state of Arkansas enacted key pieces of legislation designed to ensure that our students had the opportunity to prepare for college and career readiness.

Key elements that must be in place to ensure that our students have the opportunity to be college and career ready: • Students must continue to have access to and support in achieving a rigorous course of study. The ACT research is clear: students must possess strong literacy and math skills to ensure success at the post-secondary level or entering the world of work.

• Interventions that attempt to promote school retention of individual students at risk of dropping out are essential.

Approaches include intensive instruction in particular subjects, such as math or reading, or personalized instruction.

• We must do our best to ensure that we promote close relationships with caring adults. These include mentoring, pairing students with counselors and placing at-risk students in smaller classrooms where the learning environment is more personalized.

• We must ensure high-quality intensive early education programs for young children, to promote school readiness.

• We must continue to enhance an already robust data system — so that grade progression and academic performance can continue to be effectively monitored.

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finishing high school and continuing on to college. Beyond the challenge of learning new subject matter in an unfamiliar language, students must simultaneously learn a new culture and navigate the educational system, often without the assistance of parents, who may be English learners themselves. The challenges mount as students contemplate college, scholarships and financial aid.

But, as Arkansas’s immigrant population quickly grows, schools across Arkansas are finding success in supporting ELL students through an approach that values cultural awareness, personal relationships and parent involvement. Researchers Janet PennerWilliams and Diana Gonzales Worthen of the University of Arkansas College of Education and Health Professions are working to increase the number of teachers in Arkansas who are prepared to teach ESL (English as a Second Language). “One thing we’re learning is that once teachers get to know their ELL students personally and understand where they’re coming from, they become advocates for the students,” said PennerWilliams. Through Project RISE, Penner-Williams and Gonzales Worthen are coaching teachers in seven school districts in Northwest Arkansas to help them better understand students’ learning styles and native cultures.

Advocating for ELL students may look different in different school districts. For example, at Morrison Elementary in Fort Smith, a school with a large and diverse immigrant population, students, teachers and parents come together each year for Celebrate Freedom night. Parents bring culturally representative food, children perform songs and the entire community celebrates the students’ heritage. “Our parents are able to come and know that their child’s heritage is valued in our school and respected,” said Principal Susan Boone. “It’s become really a community event.”

Sebastian, age 5, and his dad Miguel, work together in Elmdale Elementary’s Family Literacy Program.

English Language Learners thrive with support from parents, teachers, schools

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bout once a semester, Ana Martinez eats lunch in her classroom at Darby Junior High School in Fort Smith with a handful of ELL (English Language Learner) students. “They bring lunch to my class and we go over little things like how to find scholarships, what the ACT is and how to take the test, and what colleges are available to them,” she said.

she’s on a mission to change that perception. The cause is personal to her, as both an immigrant and former English Language Learner.

“When I was in my senior year, my counselor pulled me out of class and asked why I had good grades and test scores but hadn’t taken the ACT,” she recalled. “She moved mountains to help me get into college and get a degree.” That sense that someone cared about her personally and believed she could succeed is what helped Martinez persevere through college and inspired her to become a teacher.

“A lot of them think they can’t go to college,” Martinez said, but

Non-native English-speaking students encounter many barriers to

In the Springdale School District, a family literacy program is empowering parents to become more involved in their children’s education. Through the program, parents attend classes at their child’s school, where they receive instruction in English, civics and life skills (like opening a bank account or accessing healthcare). For a few hours each morning, parents visit their children in the classroom so they can observe the lessons being taught and assist their children with homework at night. “It helps our parents understand what their children are doing at school,” said Amanda Andrusyna, who teaches the family literacy class at Elmdale Elementary. “If they’re not here, they don’t know how to help.”

Paco, the father of first-grader Jossue, has been attending Elmdale’s family literacy class since August. “I need to practice my English,” he said, “and I help my son with his homework. I see how to teach him.” With benchmark tests coming up, and Paco confirmed the date with Andrusyna, “April first, right?” They discussed ways to help Jossue prepare for the tests — lots of rest, a healthy breakfast, and so forth.

“I think parent involvement is huge. The more we get parents in here, the more the children know that their parents think education is important. If you get parents on board, the rest is so much easier,” said Michele Hutton, principal of Elmdale Elementary.

Earning a high school degree and attending college are achievable dreams for Arkansas’s ELL students, with support from caring parents, teachers, schools and communities. As Hutton put it, “Many of our parents didn’t think their kids could graduate and go to college. But now, they’re learning that they can!”

“I think parent involvement is huge… If you get parents on board, the rest is so much easier.”

— Michele Hutton

“Education is the key to unlocking the world, a passport to freedom.”

— Oprah Winfrey

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How to boost third grade reading levels, and why it matters Want to predict whether a child is likely to graduate from high school? Take a look at his or her third grade reading levels.

While Arkansas students’ reading scores trail others across the nation, there is reason to be hopeful. The National Assessment of Educational Progress ranked Arkansas 37th in the nation for thirdgrade reading proficiency but found a four percentage-point improvement over the past 10 years. State Benchmark exams also show improvement in reading scores. “The challenge is that there’s a big gap between higher and lower income students,” Duran said.

“Just over half of all higher-income fourth graders don’t read proficiently, but four out of five low-income fourth graders don’t read at grade level.”

To tackle this challenge head-on, Arkansas became an early participant in the national Campaign for Grade Level Reading. Under the leadership of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation in partnership with Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, the Arkansas Campaign has identified four key strategies to achieve the goal of 100 percent third-grade reading proficiency by 2020:

1. Improve school readiness by ensuring all kids are ready for Kindergarten when they start.

2. Reduce chronic school absence to prevent missed learning opportunities.

3. Provide summer enrichment activities to stop the learning loss that often occurs over the summer break.

4. Strengthen parent and community engagement.

As Duran noted, what happens in the classroom is vital, but there are many ways that parents, neighbors and business leaders can provide support outside the classroom. For example, dozens of communities across the state have organized local chapters of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a nonprofit organization that provides one book per month from birth to age five at no cost to families, fostering early literacy experiences that will prepare children for Kindergarten.

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In Arkansas Community Foundation’s Aspire Actions report, we identified three action steps to address poverty in Arkansas: 1. Improve high school graduation rates.

2. Promote healthy, stable families.

3. Increase family assets and earning capacity.

Research from the Annie E. Casey Foundation found that 16 percent of children who are not reading at grade level by third grade do not graduate high school on time — four times more than their peers who are reading-proficient in third grade.

Why? Angela Duran, coordinator for the Arkansas Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, explained: “Up until third grade, children are learning how to read. After that, they’re reading to learn.” Students need a strong foundation in the early grades in order to absorb the challenging new information they’ll receive in upper elementary and beyond.

Why low graduation rates affect every Arkansan

In this edition of ENGAGE magazine, we’re targeting different ways Arkansans can work together to tackle the first action step — improving graduation rates.

Until third grade, students are learning to read. After third grade, they begin reading to learn.

Through a program called Reach Out and Read, doctors give children a free, age-appropriate book at each well-child checkup and “prescribe” reading as an important part of the child’s wellbeing.

And in Phillips County, the Marvell-Elaine Reads program offers a six-week summer enrichment program to help students improve their literacy skills, connect with their culture and participate in community service.

As these initiatives illustrate, there’s a role for everyone in improving Arkansas children’s literacy skills. For more information about the importance of early literacy skills, ways to get involved and resources available to your community, visit www.ar-glr.net.

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The Arkansas Campaign for Grade Level Reading is challenging Arkansans to join the movement to boost third grade reading levels. Whether you’re a parent, educator, businessperson or policymaker, there’s a job for you!

Find out how you can get involved at www.ar-glr.net.

• Four out of 10 people without high school diplomas or an equivalent receive some form of social welfare assistance, and these people are eight times as likely to be incarcerated over the course of their lifetime.

• If everyone graduated from high school, the U.S. could save between $8 and $10 billion in expenditures for food stamps and housing projects.

Why are high school graduation rates so important? Consider this:

• If the male graduation rate increased five percent, communities would save $4.9 billion annually from decreased spending on crime costs.

• High school dropouts make just 58 percent of the average worker’s weekly wage.

For more information on increasing graduation rates in Arkansas, check out the Aspire Actions report at www.arcf.org/AspireArkansas.

• A high school dropout will make $1 million less over the course of his or her lifetime than a college graduate.

More than 60 percent of jobs will require some form of post-secondary education by 2018, drastically limiting the options for workers with a high school degree or less.

Source: Georgetown Center for Education and the Workforce

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In this edition of ENGAGE magazine, we’re taking a look at ways to improve high school graduation rates in Arkansas. On page 2, find out how three schools around the state are helping students make the grade. On page 5, learn about a program that engages young adults in a year of service at public schools. See how two school districts are supporting English Language Learners (page 7), and learn about the importance of third grade reading levels in paving the way for future academic success (page 9). See these stories and more inside ENGAGE.

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